Thinking about death can actually be a good thing. An
awareness of mortality can improve physical health and help us
re-prioritize our goals and values, according to a new analysis
of recent scientific studies. Even non-conscious thinking about
death -- say walking by a cemetery -- could prompt positive
changes and promote helping others.

And:

"Other field experiments and tightly controlled
laboratory experiments have replicated these and similar
findings, showing that the awareness of death can motivate
increased expressions of tolerance, egalitarianism, compassion,
empathy, and pacifism."

And:

One major implication of this body of work, Vail says, is that
we should "turn attention and research efforts toward
better understanding of how the motivations triggered by death
awareness can actually improve people's lives, rather than how it
can cause malady and social strife." Write the authors: "The
dance with death can be a delicate but potentially elegant stride
toward living the good life."